Getting inbox to zero with two computers

05-13-2011, 10:03 PM

I am wondering if anyone has a good idea about how getting my email inbox to zero with this hardware setup:

I work (1) with a desktop computer in my office, always connected to the server that hosts the emails and (2) a macbook not always connected to the server (but of course often, e.g. When being in my home office)

At the moment I often leave emails in the inbox (as an archive - which is not a good idea, I know...) so that I can access them always (in the office when I do not have my macbook around or when being offline, e.g. when working in the train with my macbook); if I stored processed emails in a folder on the server, I could not access them when being offline; if I stored them in a local folder on the macbook, I could not access them when I am away from the macbook. What to do?

Are you using your emails as GTD system?
In my case I have the following structure:
- Inbox
-- PSM (Project Support Materials)
-- 201105 (archive for the current month)

So once an email is processed all the projects and next actions are created in separate GTD system (which is web-based). Then if I still need the email for reference, I put it into PSM folder. Otherwise it goes to archive folder (201105).
When new month starts I creat a new archive folder and old one goes to archive on the server.

Comment

Thank you very much for your quick reply. I cannot create subfolders under the inbox; but creating folders/postboxes on the server and having them accessible also when being offline seems to work... (I have to check with the computer in the office, too...) thank you!

Comment

Sounds to me like you need a separate system for reference and tasks that is not driven by your corporate email system.

High-availability is important to me which is why I use a cloud-based system for most everything. After a mail is processed, I never need my mail system again. A task goes into Remember The Milk (RTM), reference information is copied to Evernote. This way, I have full access (home, work, phone, online or off) to all my tasks and reference information.

If this doesn't violate your corporate policies, I'd recommend using your email system as a communication tool only, since it's not suited to your needs for task and reference management.